Suit Up — Now There’s a COVID-19 Protection Suit for Attending Concerts & Festivals

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Photo Credit: Production Club

A California design firm is visualizing a COVID-19 protection suit for future live music shows.

Design firm Production Club calls the protective suit a ‘Micrashell’ that is designed for concert attendees. The company’s head of inventions, Miguel Risueno, spoke about the new COVID-19 protection suit.

“Micrashell is a solution for bringing people together safely,” he said. “It’s a half suit that kind of takes your safety and your security in terms of being close to airborne particles or viruses to the next level.”

Risueno says the COVID-19 protection suit is an offshoot of current hazmat suit designs. It features an airtight design, app-controlled speakers, microphone, and an N95 filtration system. A vent on the back of the helmet allows air in, which is then filtered a second time before being expelled.

Its creators say drinking, smoking, and vaping are still possible in the COVID-19 protection suit.

“It’s another thing you don’t need to remove the helmet, for, because if you remove the helmet and the shield, you’re compromised,” Risueno says. Risueno says his design firm is in contact with venues who may be interested in renting the suits to concert attendees.

A protective COVID-19 suit is a good idea, but the US is already having enough trouble getting people to wear masks. Over Memorial Day, beaches and parks across the United States were packed. And live concerts and festivals are not allowed to resume until future re-opening phases.

Most states with opening guidelines believe live events may not return until 2021. Health experts and officials certainly believe live attendance at musical events will be anemic. A poll conducted among Americans found that less than 10% would be willing to attend a live event in 2020 with no vaccine available.

So could this work? Suits like this may provide protection, but renting them out seems like a profoundly bad idea. Venues will be responsible for sanitizing the COVID-19 protection suits between users — and we all know how that will go.